Allentown Red Sox


The Allentown Red Sox were a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that played from 1958 through 1960 in the Eastern League. At that time, the Eastern League was officially Class A, but, prior to the minor-league classification realignment that took place in 1963, that level was almost equivalent to Double-A.

History

From 1939 through 1952, Allentown had hosted a Class B Interstate League franchise, the Cardinals—also the Dukes, FleetWings and Wings—and for much of that period, it was an affiliate of the namesake St. Louis Cardinals. When the Interstate loop folded, the Cardinals returned to Allentown in 1954 as a member of the Eastern League for three seasons, through 1956.
The Allentown Red Sox franchise dates to 1933 as the Reading Phillies. It became a farm team for the Red Sox in 1938 as the Hazelton Red Sox. In 1957, the Red Sox purchased the former Detroit Tigers Eastern League team, the Syracuse Chiefs, and moved the club to Allentown mid-season, being operated as an unaffiliated team for the balance of the season. The Red Sox ended their affiliation with their Eastern League team in Albany, New York after the season and reassigned it to Allentown for the 1958 season.
Owned by Joe Buzas, the team played for three seasons at Max Hess Stadium, owned by Max Hess, Jr., owner of the Allentown Hess Brothers department store. Former Allentown player Tracy Stallard is remembered as the pitcher who served up Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961 while playing for Boston. Another player who appeared at the stadium was Curt Simmons, a native of Egypt, Pennsylvania, who pitched at Max Hess Stadium in a rehab assignment for the Asheville Tourists, a farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies. The presence of Curt Simmons filled up the stands. For the 1960 season, Bob Heffner, who graduated from Allentown High School as a two-sport letterman in 1957 played for the A-Sox. He had the best pitching record on the club at 16-9. Heffner later played in the majors for the Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and California Angels in 1968.
The A-Sox's best season was 1960. On September 3, 1960, the Red Sox kept its Eastern League playoff hopes alive with a 7-6, 3-2 sweep of Williamsport at Hess Stadium, the second of four straight doubleheaders the A-Sox played to close out the season. Two days later, Allentown's playoff bid ended in a 5-4, 11-inning defeat at Springfield in the first game of a Labor Day doubleheader. The holiday crowd of 1,297 at Hess Stadium witnessed the last professional baseball game in Allentown for 37 years.

Legacy

After the 1960 season, the team was relocated due to a lack of attendance, the team moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania on December 5, 1960, for the 1961 season played as the Johnstown Red Sox at Point Stadium.
Over subsequent seasons, the club has remained in the Eastern League under different names in various cities:
The Red Sox parted company with the franchise in 1995, signing a player development contract with the Trenton Thunder. Since 2003, the Portland Sea Dogs have been Boston's affiliate in the Eastern League.

Seasons

PosPlayerAvgPosPlayerW-LERA
1BMatthew Daskalakis.273SPAlbert Antinelli7-104.04
2BDouglas Hubacek.305SPWalt Payne8-94.11
SSAl Moran.206SPJohn Issac10-94.01
3BEd Lavene.249SPLeverette Spencer4-83.33
CDon Gile.274SPRonald Jirsa2-124.02
OFJerry Mallett.233SPEdwin Binder3-53.14
OFJim Tolleson.226RPLarry Kendig4-43.73
OFJohn Siegert.245RPJack Thomas3-46.29

PosPlayerAvgPosPlayerW-LERA
1BDaniel Lynk.299SPAlbert Antinelli17-93.83
2BMarlan Coughtry.296SPRonald Cote14-123.89
SSAndrew Madalone.276SPHal Kolstad12-133.64
3BMatthew Sczesny.266SPWilliam Thom5-34.11
CBob Tillman.272SPTracy Stallard9-41.68
OFJerry Mallett.278RPJay Richie9-51.90
OFRichard McCarthy.281RPRalph Birkofer6-13.60
OFEzell King.242RPArnold Early2-52.86

PosPlayerAvgPosPlayerW-LERA
1BJoseph Pedrazzini.285SPBob Heffner16-93.23
2BMarlan Coughtry.308SPWilliam Thom14-74.47
SSJohn Jenson.275SPBen Tench3-94.95
3BTed Schreiber.257SPGuido Grilli9-53.31
CRobert Hoffer.225SPStan Willis2-96.04
OFRobert Fidler.268SPTracy Stallard4-54.82
OFRichard McCarthy.295RPGeorge Moton8-73.13
OFPaul Jernigan.245RPRonald Cote8-74.73

Major league players